National Guard of Ukraine
|Age= |size=60,000 |command_structure=Ministry of Defence (war time) Minister of Internal Affairs (peace time) |garrison=Kiev |garrison_label=Headquarters |motto= |march= |battles= (border security reinforcement Spring/Summer 1992) |anniversaries=March 26 |decorations= |battle_honours= |disbanded= |commander1= |commander1_label=Commander |commander2= |commander2_label= |notable_commanders= |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label= | identification_symbol_2 = | identification_symbol_2_label = }} The National Guard of Ukraine ( : Національна гвардія України, Natsionalna hvardiya Ukrayny) is the reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that was first active since 1991 until 2000, and was reactivated in 2014 shortly after the and the . It replaced the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is normally under the command of the interior ministry, but during times of war it is put under the authority of the Ministry of Defense. Organization Composition *1st (Center) Division - Kyiv, Zhytomyr *2nd (East) Division - Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Luhansk *3rd (South) Division - Odessa, Kharkiv, Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kherson *4th (North) Division - Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mariupol, Pavlohrad, Kryvyi Rih *5th (West) Division - Lviv, Lutsk, Ternopil, Drohobych Commanders *1991 – 1995 Lieutenant General Volodymyr Kukharets *1995 – 1996 Lieutenant General Oleksandr Kuzmuk *1996 – 1998 Lieutenant General Ihor Valkiv *1998 – 2000 Lieutenant General Oleksandr Chapovsky *2000 – 2014 transferred to the Internal Troops *2014 – present Lieutenant General Stepan Poltorak 2014 reformation The Guard was disbanded in the year 2000 but later reactivated in 2014, following the overthrow of President . It was reestablished in late February of 2014, by order of acting Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatesnyuk. The National Guard was initially comprised of many of the radical elements of the protestors that took part in the Euromaidan, and were mobilized in early March 2014 to fight against the Ukrainian National Revolutionary Front (UNRF) during the 2014 Ukrainian coup d'état. The reformed force was to be created partially on the basis of the Internal Troops of Ukraine, with plans for militias and armed wings from certain of Ukraine's political parties and organizations, including the Euromaidan movement, to be also incorporated into it. However those plans have run into resistance from at least some of the latter, who do not wish to give up their weapons or otherwise subordinate themselves to government control (which was partly the cause of the coup d'etat). Direct recruitment from military academies is also intended. On March 16, the Turchynov Government announced plans for the recruitment of 10,000 people within the next 15 days for the National Guard. Individual volunteers are also being accepted. The 2014 law provides for an initial authorized strength of 60,000 personnel. It also tasks the National Guard with maintaining public order, protecting sites like nuclear power plants and "upholding the constitutional order and restoring the activity of state bodies", in part a reference to the situation in Crimea, as well as to the perceived Russian threat to Ukraine as a whole. In the eastern parts of the country in particular, not only will the National Guard reinforce regular military units defending against a feared Russian invasion, it will also be expected to uphold Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (i.e. it is intended to act as a counterinsurgency force against 'fifth columnists' and infiltrators). The National Guard will be receiving a large proportion of the money from the emergency budgetary reprogramming approved by parliament for the funding of weapons procurement, equipment repair, and training (said reprogramming is equivalent to $600 million in 2014 dollars). It is hoped that, eventually, the strength of the National Guard will rise to 60,000 personnel. The pay for National Guard regulars is approximately 214 Euros ($297) a month, equivalent to an average Ukrainian's monthly income. Officers receive about twice that amount. There are also some attached Internal Troops personnel, mostly for training and/or logistical support purposes, e.g. K-9 teams that have been taking part in training and demonstration sessions. Category:Ukraine (Altverse) Category:Armed Forces of Ukraine